


Like Father Like Son

by krispy_kream



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6347509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krispy_kream/pseuds/krispy_kream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien thought the last person he wanted discovering his identity was Ladybug. Turns out, he was wrong. There was someone much, much worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hawkmoth!Gabriel AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/184705) by Syrva. 



> Okay, first look at this: http://syrva.tumblr.com/post/139436756437/some-quality-fatherson-bonding-hawkmoth-was  
> So I went in assuming that comic was cannon, and then it all spiraled out of control as I watched the show (And now that we are getting more information it is not as relevant to write this but… I’ve made it this far!)  
> As of initial posting I have 3 chapters written out and I have no idea where it’s actually going… So, I mean, there will be regular updates at the start and then I can’t make any guarantees. 
> 
> This isn't as shippy as I wanted it to be........

It was an akuma attack like any other. A parent attacked the school after classes had let out, going after the principal and all the teachers. Adrien had still been at school for fencing lessons, so he went in knowing he’d be first on the scene. Ladybug arrived in the nick of time, as she always did, to prevent the akuma from taking his Miraculous. But it had been a close thing. They had actually taken hold of the ring, he had truly been about to lose it. 

His heart was still racing. 

Adrien rushed home, not even bothering to call the gorilla. Being in someone’s presence would only stress him out, catsuit or no. He hastily made his way up the front walk, everything already unlocked for his approach, and slammed the door shut behind him. Only then did he let out the breath he had been holding, his shoulders sagging has he leaned back against the door. 

Plagg shot out from his shirt collar as soon as the latch had clicked shut. 

“That one was too close for comfort!” he whined.

“Tell me about it…” Adrien breathed in agreement. 

“I appreciate your dedication to the fine art of pun humor, but maybe we oughta rethink the timing from now on.”

Adrien let himself lean against the door for a moment more as he got his nerves in check. It wouldn’t do to let Nathalie catch him so on edge, she would certainly report it to his father. 

“You don’t exactly give a great boost to my self control, Plagg,” he countered as he finally pushed himself upright. 

Plagg snickered and moved to hover just above Adrien’s shoulder, a safe proximity to his shirt collar so he could hide at a moment’s notice. He’d gotten away with it several times already thanks to the stark and plain furnishings of the house making Plagg easily blend in with the shadows. But in this case…

“Adrien.”

Adrien froze, his chest seizing in panic. He felt Plagg duck into his shirt, but it was already too late. Adrien looked up at the top of the stairs and found his father staring coolly down at him, his expression hard and unreadable as it always was. Adrien noticed his brow was raised just slightly, the minuet change in expression that meant his father had been caught off guard. Adrien tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. 

“Father,” he managed to say with only a small tremor, “Nathalie didn’t tell me you’d be home today.”

His father didn’t answer right away. Adrien started to feel sick. 

“... I was on my way out,” his father finally said, seeming to recover from whatever had surprised him. “Come to my office, Adrien.”

With that, his father turned on his heel and disappeared down the upstairs hall. Adrien swallowed hard. Plagg poked his head out of his shirt, but he didn’t dare fully reveal himself. 

“He totally saw me,” he said, “and he had to have heard us talking, the cat’s outta the bag this time!” 

“Calm down, Plagg,” Adrien whispered back, more to himself than to his kwami. “There’s no way he knows what you are. I can fix this.”

Plagg groaned anyway. Adrien wanted to groan too. 

Adrien’s heart rate was through the roof all over again as he ascended the stairs and made his way to his father’s office at the center of the house. The office was just as cold and sterile as the rest of the house. White walls with gold and black accents and a polished tile floor. A large monitor was mounted above a clear glass desk that was littered with loose paper and post-it notes stacked between issues of various fashion magazines. One wall was being used as a white board and there was a single manikin beside it draped in black and white fabric. Adrien had only been inside a handful of times, usually when his father needed to check how a garment fit and the manikin just wouldn’t do. Somehow he doubted that’s what his father had in mind this time. 

His father was standing at his desk when Adrien came in, looking down at a small gilded box and tracing the edges with his fingers. Adrien didn’t get a good look at it before his father took it up in his hand and tucked it away into his coat pocket. He looked up at Adrien, his expression still neutral, and beckoned him in toward the back corner of the room. 

“I want to show you something, son,” he said. 

Adrien felt goosebumps break out at the back of his neck. Everything about this scenario was unusual and foreboding. He should have been happy about his father’s sudden interest in him, but instead all he felt was unease. 

His father held out his hand and pressed it against the blank wall. A section slid away to reveal metal grated elevator doors. They opened with a rumble and his father turned back to Adrien to usher him inside.

The elevator was clearly meant to fit one comfortably, and it had been built for practicality rather than comfort, but the ride was short enough that it hardly mattered. Plagg was poking at his neck relentlessly trying to get his attention, but Adrien rolled his shoulder to get Plagg off him. Standing so close to his father, there was no way he was going to acknowledge him. He felt the kwami’s anxiety keenly enough himself, anyway. 

The elevator jolted to a stop and the metal gates opened up into a dark room. His father stepped out into the darkness undaunted, but no lights illuminated for him. Adrien took a hesitant step out as well, at least getting himself out of the elevator before it could close on him. 

“... Dad?” he ventured, and his words echoed back at him off the walls he couldn’t make out. 

“I got a nasty feeling about this place,” Plagg hissed at him. “Be ready to transform.”

“What, here?” Adrien whispered back incredulously. “In front of my dad, are you crazy?”

The sharp clack of his father’s shoes on the stone floor finally halted and Adrien and Plagg both froze. The whirring of spinning gears began and they looked up to see a window opening in the dome shaped ceiling. The white light of the late afternoon flooded the room, starting as a spotlight on Adrien’s father who stood at the center and widened into a circle that illuminated the empty room. 

Adrien’s eyes were transfixed on his father who had somehow changed into a black suit in the short time he had been concealed in the darkness. He lifted his arms and, from the brightly lit polished floor, emerged dozens of shimmering, glowing butterflies that fluttered up and around his father’s dark figure. One rested on his outstretched hand and his father brought it in close to inspect it.

What… Was he looking at here? These butterflies, they were clearly what was released when Ladybug cleansed an akuma. But why were they here? And how were there so many? Adrien took a few slow and hesitant steps forward, moving to the fringe of the light so that only the tips of his shoes were within the illuminated circle. A light butterfly strayed from the group and flittered towards him, hovering in uneven circles in front of his face. After a short moment, it strayed lower towards his shoulder, close to where Plagg was hidden. 

“Stunning, is it not?” his father finally said, his voice deep and booming in the hollow space. “The pure and hopeful hearts of the people of Paris…”

Adrien took another step into the light and the butterfly finally landed on his shoulder. 

His father brought up his free hand and placed it gently over the butterfly that had come to him. 

“And yet, so easily corruptible…”

The butterfly in his father’s hands turned black and, when it took flight once more, its course was erratic and unsteady. It flew against the rhythm and flow created by the other butterflies and strayed higher and higher towards the open window. 

“No…” Adrien breathed, taking a step back. “The akuma.... It was you all along?”

Plagg was poking incessantly at his neck. “Transform! Hurry up and transform!”

Slowly, Adrien’s father turned to them and Adrien finally noticed that his father’s face was covered in a sleek black mask, the outline of a butterfly’s wings glowing around his eyes. 

“Greetings, Chat Noir,” his father practically purred. “I am Hawkmoth.”

Adrien’s shock morphed into his instinctual reaction to danger. He held up his fist and shouted, “Plagg, claws out!”

Plagg emerged from under his shirt collar as he should have, but Hawkmoth also brought up his fist. Clutched in his grasp was the small gilded box from the office. He held it out, laughing as he did so, and suddenly Plagg’s course was diverted. He came within a hair’s breadth of the ring before he was pulled away toward the open box. With a shout he was completely consumed by it and his cry was quickly cut off as Hawkmoth snapped the lid shut. 

“Plagg!” Adrien cried. 

Hawkmoth returned the box to his breast pocket with a low chuckle. 

“To think one of the Miraculous I sought was under my roof all along,” he said. “You did well to conceal it from me for so long.”

Adrien clutched his ring hand close to his chest and glared up at his father. It was easier to do now that he knew it was the face of a villain. 

“What did you do to him!” he shouted. 

“Be at ease, my son, no harm will come to your kwami,” Hawkmoth, his father, said as he turned back around to gaze up at the butterflies still flying obliviously around them. “I may even permit you to see him again soon should you agree to cooperate…”

“I would never help you terrorize the citizens of Paris,” Adrien spat. “Plagg would never agree to it either.”

“You misjudge me,” his father insisted. “My akuma are simply a tool I utilize to achieve my goal. Controlling Paris and it’s citizens holds no interest for me.”

Adrien stepped forward closer to his father and the butterflies moved around him to let him into the circle of light. He was defenseless, but Hawkmoth apparently had what he wanted. The man before him felt more like his father again. Even if he was still just out of reach as ever. 

“Why are you doing this?” he finally asked. His father was already rich, he already basically controlled the fashion world with his renown. What else was there if not the city itself?

His father took a deep breath, holding the air high in his chest. “To bring her back,” he said softly, his voice carrying a twinge of kindness that Adrien hadn’t heard in years. 

The change in tone almost threw Adrien off more than the answer had. But he needed only a moment to wrap his head around what his father meant. 

“Wait… Mom?”

“Wouldn’t you like to see her?” his father asked. His words were like a hum of fond reminiscence. 

“Dad, you can’t, she’s d-” he started to say, but he stopped himself. A body had never been found and there was still time on her missing persons case before she could be proclaimed dead. But her disappearance and his father’s reaction to it always twinged his heart with bitterness when he thought it of. Sometimes he thought it would have been better if the authorities had just proclaimed her dead from the start. Maybe then his father would have taken it with fewer delusions. 

Still, his father hated when Adrien claimed his mother was dead. So he rephrased it. 

“… She’s gone,” he said instead. 

His father’s good mood was not deterred. 

“Not for long. All I need is the last Miraculous.”

The last Miraculous… Ladybug! Adrien’s eyes shot up, the fire of retaliation burning in his chest once more. 

“Leave her alone!” he cried. His Ladybug, his precious lady! He would stop at nothing to protect her, even without Plagg. Even if it meant fighting his own father…!

Adrien could hear the sinister grin that spread out over his father’s face as he turned back to look at him. 

“Oh,” he cooed, the laughter at the fringes of his voice. “It won’t be me taking her Miraculous.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. No… Steal Ladybug’s Miraculous, he would never….

But isn’t that what made him perfect for the job?

As Adrien’s face fell, his father laughed. He laughed long and loud as the realization washed over Adrien’s expression. 

Betray his Ladybug, his partner, the love of his life, a girl he barely knew…

Or go against his father’s orders.

“We can finally be a family again,” his father said when his laughter had subsided. 

Adrien’s chest clenched painfully. A family. The one thing he wanted more than anything else. More than Plagg, more than Ladybug, more than his own freedom, what he truly wanted was his family to be whole again. 

His throat constricted around the question he just couldn’t ask as he looked up at his father, finally understanding him for the first time that he could remember.

Could taking Ladybug’s Miraculous… really bring his mother back…?


	2. Two

“Girl, I’m telling you, I have never been so glad to forget something in my locker. My followers went nuts for that rescue scene!” Alya exclaimed. “And to think I owe it all to my calculator…” she sighed dramatically and added, “I’ll never look at math the same way again.”

Marinette smiled and nodded along as she always did. Alya was over the moon every time she managed to film an akuma attack from the beginning and her excitement was only amplified when something juicy happened like Chat having to be rescued. 

Unfortunately in this case Alya’s enthusiasm for “Team LadyChat” as she called it only served to hit Marinette with stabs of guilt. She hated it when she had to leave Chat Noir to fend off the akuma himself for any amount of time. Together they were invincible, but apart it was nothing but close calls and nearly fatal mistakes. Chat needed her just as much as she needed him so letting him down like she had the day before weighed heavy on her heart. 

“But you know, one of my followers noticed something interesting while Chat Noir was pinned down,” Alya was saying. 

Marinette pushed her guilt to the side and perked up. Alya’s tone had changed so it was time for a speculative discussion. 

“What’s that?” she asked. 

“Well, you figure with your adversary trapped like that it would be an easy thing to do some real harm, you know?” Alya explained. “But the akuma deliberately went for Chat’s finger like they were going to pry something off him.”

His Miraculous. Plenty of akuma went for them. And this one had gotten closer to getting it than most. But Marinette brought her hand to her chin and hummed in thought. It was time for a knowledge balancing act. Balancing what she did know with what she was supposed to know. (And not everything she was supposed to know was even correct!)

“It must mean he has something of value on his hand then,” Marinette reasoned. “Something so important it’s worth letting him meddle in their plans so they can get it.”

“And that something is apparently on his finger…” Alya mused. Then her head jerked up. “Hey, isn’t that the thing that beeps after every battle on his finger? It’s some kind of timer, isn’t it?”

Oh god, how much did Alya know about the Miraculous? Did she know what those beeps really meant? She had to, right? Ladybug and Chat Noir always had to shoot off like a rocket after every fight and why else would they if not because their transformation was about to expire? Everyone knew that, right? Right?

Marinette glanced down at her purse where Tikki was hiding. She wanted to seek her advice on how much she should say, but she knew Tikki would tell her to say nothing. The less Alya understood about Ladybug, the easier it would be to keep everyone out of danger. 

“Well, uhh, it’s probably not… just a timer, right?” Marinette fumbled through a suggestion that didn’t really say anything but at least could help Alya think in the right direction. That was the compromise she decided on. 

“Right, if it were only a timer whoever the mastermind is could just buy it at the store!” Alya agreed. “It’s gotta be something else, like, hmm… Some kind of power source?” She shook her head. “But he’s got his baton for that, it must be something else…”

Marinette laughed and let her friend speculate. She had helped enough already, Alya would probably be mulling over the possibilities for the rest of the day. 

They reached the classroom, a few of their classmates still mulling about outside, and climbed the few steps to their seats. Marinette stole a quick (long, gaping, outright staring) glance at Adrien while they passed. He looked a little… forlorn today. He had his chin in one hand and he stared down at the other, not looking up to acknowledge his classmates coming in nor pulling out his books to get ready for the day. Even Nino was looking a little fidgety about it. Marinette leaned over her desk to poke Nino in the shoulder. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” she whispered. 

Nino leaned back and shrugged.

“I dunno, man, he won’t say much,” he offered. Then he cupped his hand around his mouth and added, “probably dad troubles, if I had to guess.”

“Wow, he is really out of it,” Alya said, pulled from her Ladybug musings by the conversation. 

Something wasn’t right. Sure, Adrien always had a lot on his plate, but the thing that made him so amazing was that he could always balance his responsibilities and still be totally generous and kind on top of it all! Marinette couldn’t stand to see him this way. She had to at least try to help. Perhaps this unfortunate day for Adrien was actually a golden opportunity for Marinette? She could show him just how caring and considerate she could be, and then Adrien might start thinking of her as a close friend, someone he could always turn to in times of need! 

Plus, she was seriously worried about him. Which was more important. Obviously. 

Marinette took a deep breath and slid off the bench of her desk. She stood straight and stepped a little too deliberately down the stairs to Adrien’s desk where she proceeded to stand awkwardly saying nothing for several long, never ending seconds. 

Adrien didn’t even notice. 

“Um! A-Adrien?” she said a little louder than she meant to. 

Adrien finally looked up at her and he blinked as if surprised. He probably didn’t know how zoned out he had even been. 

“I was just wondering if you…” Shoot, she hadn’t thought of a conversation starter. ‘Are you okay’ was too generic and easy to write off, she needed a more subtle question so she could subtly pry a hint out of him. So she said the first thing that came to mind. 

“...Did the math homework from last night!” she practically shouted. Okay, sure, math homework. She could work with this. “I had a lot of trouble with number 7.” Actually, she didn’t remember what number 7 was like at all. Hopefully it had actually been difficult so she hadn’t just painted herself as a total dunce. 

Adrien looked at her and it took him a moment to figure out how to answer. 

“Oh…,” he said quietly, glancing down at the book bag by his feet. “Actually, I never got to it.”

“Whoa,” Alya said. “Weird.” 

“Very weird,” Nino echoed back. 

Marinette could not think of a single time Adrien had failed to finish all of his homework, even with his busy schedule. Her brows knit together in concern and her nerves were completely forgotten. 

“Are you feeling alright? You look exhausted,” she asked. 

Adrien looked back down at his desk or, more specifically, his hand. 

“I guess I had a little trouble sleeping last night. I’ve got a lot on my mind…” he admitted. Then he looked up at Marinette with his classic charming smile. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for worrying about me.”

The turnaround was so immediate that it caught Marinette of guard. 

“Oh! O-of course! What are friends for!” she stuttered. 

Marinette returned to her seat, but now she was even more concerned. What had been that look in his eyes? The look that said his words were giant understatements? Whatever had happened, it was serious. She shared a look with Alya who looked just as concerned. 

Marinette just wished she knew how she could help. 

The day went by in a blur of staring at Adrien’s head, sighing about Adrien’s mood and worrying relentlessly about how she could help. This was a worse level of distraction than usual for her and even her teacher noticed. That was how she wound up with detention. 

“Hey,” Alya said with a shrug as she stood up from her desk at the end of the day. “At least you’ll be leaving the school at the same time as Adrien.”

“That’s right…” Marinette realized, her heart preemptively fluttering. “I can try again to find out what’s bothering him.”

Alya giggled. “Good luck, lover girl,” she said with a wink.

Marinette resigned herself to working on her homework as she sat in the silent classroom alone with her teacher, the scratch of their pens and the tick of the clock the only sound in the room until the school fencing club truly got under way. Marinette let her mind wander to possible conversation topics she could try with Adrien as the clamor of foils clashing and boys fighting wafted through the school. She could start with something innocuous like fencing. She didn’t know much about the sport itself and if she could just get Adrien talking maybe he would let something slip. Or, she could try the ‘mutual interest’ approach and talk about the new character announcements for Ultimate Mecha Strike III. It would be fun to talk about the game with someone who wasn’t her dad, but just because Adrien was good at it didn’t necessarily mean he had the time to be that into it. Another option would just be to start babbling about her own life. What a disaster that would be. 

Before she’d made much headway in her conversation planning, an especially loud shout reached the classroom followed by a teacher’s sharp cry of “Adrien!” The rest of the words were muffled by the distance, but it all sounded like a slew of irritated scolding. Adrien’s own distractions were probably getting him in trouble too; a trait they had in common today. 

When the teacher finally told Marinette that she could leave, Marinette bolted to the locker room with unprecedented speed. She wanted to be absolutely sure she beat the fencing club there so she wouldn’t miss Adrien leaving for the day. She gathered up what things she needed, then poked her head out to check out the courtyard. 

The fencing club was lined up and listening to the teacher, and Marinette spied Adrien’s glossy golden hair among them. Good, he hadn’t left early. Marinette took a deep breath, then sauntered back over to her locker to wait. 

She took a seat on the bench between the lines of lockers and Tikki took that opportunity to pop her head out of Marinette’s purse. 

“You don’t blame yourself for this, do you?” her kwami asked. 

“I know I shouldn’t,” Marinette replied. “I don’t even know what’s wrong! But I…”

“You want to help,” Tikki finished for her. 

“And if it were anyone else, I could. But I always freeze up when I try to talk to him and that’s built this wall between us. I’m probably the last person he would think of confiding in now,” Marinette admitted. 

“You can’t help how your heart affects you,” Tikki assured her, “but I’m sure if you start making an effort to reach out to him it will not go unnoticed!”

Marinette smiled. 

“You’re right, Tikki,” she said, sitting up a little straighter with her renewed confidence. “And this can be my first step.”

Tikki beamed up at her. 

Marinette had to hastily snap her purse shut as the boys finally began filing in. Adrien was hanging his head, looking towards the floor as he entered, but he perked up when he noticed Marinette sitting on the bench near their lockers. 

“Oh, hey Marinette. You’re here awfully late,” he said. 

Marinette jumped to her feet. Forging friendships! Tearing down walls!

“Hi! Yes!” she kind of yelled. More than a few of the boys in the room glanced curiously at her. She swallowed and tried to control her volume as she continued. “D-detention, you know.”

“That’s pretty rare for you.”

Marinette glanced down and watched her own feet twist and fidget. “Yeah, we’ve both been pretty distracted today, I guess.”

Adrien smiled at that, but it looked a bit like he was flinching as well. Oh she was screwing this up already. 

“A-anyway! Since I’m still here, I thought… Um, well, I figured it would be a good chance to, you know… Walk… Home… Together. At least part of the way, I mean.”

Adrien blinked, muttered out an, “Oh,” then finally smiled. His brows were high in pleasant surprise. 

“Sure, I don’t mind. It’d be a nice change of pace,” he said. “Let me just get changed. I’ll be out in a bit.”

Marinette didn’t even have words she was so elated. She just smiled stupidly and waved as Adrien walked deeper into the locker room, her hand and her expression frozen for far longer than was necessary. 

Ooooh my gosh, step one complete! Marinette stamped her feet in excitement as she spun in circles. Had she but known it would be so easy! But this was only the start, she reminded herself. She got all the fidgeting out of her system that she could just in time for Adrien to return and was able to smile almost calmly as they left the school together. 

Marnette chewed her lip as they walked in silence down the sidewalk. Where should she start! Maybe small-talk was the best choice for now. She had to start somewhere before she completely wasted this chance. 

“Sooo, how was practice?”

Adrien shrugged. “The usual. Everyone is getting ready for a tournament at the end of the month.”

“Oh! Are you going to compete?”

“Can’t,” he answered plainly, “I’ve got other things to do.”

Marinette almost smacked her forehead. Of course! Obviously! He has so many other things to do, of course he doesn’t have time for a tournament.

“Oh, sorry! Gosh, that must be frustrating…” she ventured. 

“I’m used to it. Plus, I can help the team win by practicing with them, so I’m doing my part,” he explained, and then he smiled at her. 

Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. There it was, that sweet, genuine smile that she fell in love with. If he could just smile like that always, she could be happy. The world and her troubles melted away and she nearly forgot what had gotten her in this situation in the first place. 

“And you?” He asked after a prolonged silence, making Marinette jump. “Making anything new?”

Time felt like a rubber band as she suddenly caught back up to where she was and what she was trying to do. 

“Making? Oh! Yes, well. Recently I’ve been trying to design a skirt I would actually wear, but no matter what I think of I just feel like it wouldn’t suit me.”

“Not suit you? But your designs are always so full of life and personality, I’m sure they would look great on you.”

Marinette felt her face flush. Did Adrien really think so highly of her designs? More importantly, he remembered them enough to even have a concrete idea of what they were like? Marinette was mortified and elated all at once. 

“You should show them to me some time,” Adrien continued, his lips twisted up into a rare smirk. “I know a thing or two about fashion.”

“Oh! No, I couldn’t-”

Her words were cut off by a sudden explosion that rocked the sidewalk and a collection of scattering screams. Marinette yelped and covered her head with her arms. 

“What was that!” She cried. Another akuma attack so soon?

She glanced up at Adrien and found him still standing tall, looking with narrow eyes in the direction of the ruckus. 

“Get inside somewhere safe, Marinette,” he said.

“But what about you?” She asked. 

Finally he turned to her and she saw that his expression was hard, his eyes full of determination. 

“My bodyguard is just around the corner, I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Now go, hurry!”

With that, Adrien took off down the sidewalk back towards the school. Marinette watched him go in shock. Why was he running that way? That was where the danger was!

Tikki popped out of her purse when Adrien had gone and hovered up in front of Marinette’s face. 

“Marinette, we have to hurry!” She exclaimed. 

Marinette nodded. 

“Right, I have to make sure Adrien doesn’t get himself hurt. Tikki, spots on!”

The familiar sensation of her transformation wrapped around her body and took control of her mindset. Ladybug was confident and clever; she always knew what to do and didn’t hesitate to make it happen. This fight would be no different. She hurled her yo-yo up over the railing of a wire balcony above her and took off swinging towards the school after Adrien. 

She never caught up with him. He must have called for a car and gotten to safety already. He had been strange when he left her side, but if he wasn’t in the vicinity of danger then that was fine. What she did find when she reached the school was Chat Noir leaning against a tree to the left of the entrance, his arms crossed in front of him. 

“Waited for me this time, did you?” Ladybug asked as she landed on the grass with a soft rustle. 

He shrugged but he was also smirking. “Thought I’d play it safe this time around.”

“Is that right? Well, I appreciate your consideration for my nerves after last time,” she teased. 

Chat glanced away without a response. Ladybug’s smile fell immediately. Something was off about Chat, he was always playful with her, even when she picked on him. Was something wrong with everyone around her today?

They both flinched as another crash sounded and then they turned to see the double doors of the school fling open and the silhouette of a boy stride out onto the yellow brick steps. His entire body was pitch-black as if he were only the shadow of a person and when he turned his head to scan the area, Ladybug saw that only his eyes were discernible. 

The shadow spotted them and the familiar butterfly shape glowed around the boy’s eyes. 

“Found you at last,” the boy growled. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir both dropped down into a defensive stance, ready to jump away in an instant. 

The boy leapt over the stone railing and suddenly a foil blade shot out from his hand when he hadn’t been holding anything before. Ladybug and Chat jumped up and out of the way of the attack, but it was a narrow escape. This kid was fast!

From the top of the tree, Chat Noir tisked. “Another fencing monster? Do I have to do all the work around here?”

The shadow boy straightened slowly and turned to look up at Ladybug where she clung to a light post. He raised his blade and pointed it straight at her. 

“Ladybug. You will hand over your Miraculous to me at once,” he called. The butterfly outline still glowed around his eyes.

Ladybug met his gaze for a moment and was taken aback by his intensity. There had never been an akuma this intent on coming after her and her alone. Not like this. 

Ladybug lept off the lamp post and back down to the ground before the boy, her yo-yo out and swinging. The boy’s eyes narrowed.

“Why are you letting Hawkmoth control you like this?” She asked him. 

He growled. “All the power I could ever desire for the price of your Miraculous. It’s hardly a bad deal!”

“But why?” Ladybug insisted. “What do you need all that power for?”

“Just give me the Miraculous!” The boy cried, rearing back for another strike. 

Ladybug braced herself, but before the foil could connect with her yo-yo, Chat Noir was suddenly before her, deflecting the attack with his baton. 

“Whoa, careful where you point that thing, yeah?” He said, but he had clearly strained under the weight of the attack. 

“Get out of the way!” The boy seethed. 

“I was thinking I might take that sharp stick of yours instead,” Chat said, still making light in the face of danger as he held out his baton like a fencing foil. 

The light of the glow around his eyes flared and the boy paused, listening to words in his mind that neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir could hear. 

“I pick the battlefield, Ladybug,” the boy finally said after a moment. “I know you wouldn’t leave Paris and I waiting…”

Then he leapt away from them, a black streak bounding over the school and out of sight. Chat crouched and held up his baton, ready to make chase. 

“We have to go after him!” He cried before turning back to find Ladybug stuck in place, her yo-yo still. “… Lady?” He asked.

“Something is weird about this one…” she muttered. “He’s too focused. The akuma always want something else…”

“Maybe Hawkmoth is getting desperate,” Chat suggested with a shrug. “Regardless, we still have to go after him.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Ladybug said with a sigh.

Her questions would have to wait. First they had to save that boy. 

Chat Noir led the chase over the rooftops, always keeping himself just one step ahead of Ladybug and calling out directions as needed. By the time they stopped, the sun was beginning to set and the streets were growing dark. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir finally came to a stop in front of a large steel warehouse on the bank of the Seine river. It was quiet. There were no people about and no sign of any damage caused by the akuma. 

“Here?” Ladybug asked as she glanced around. “But how are you sure?”

“You doubt the nose, my lady?” He asked with a smile, bringing his face close to hers to wrinkle his nose and the bridge of his mask. 

Ladybug pushed him away with a finger to his forehead. 

“Thought you were a cat, not a bloodhound,” she giggled. “Come on, we have to be careful with this one.”

Ladybug took her yo-yo up firmly in her hand and turned to the warehouse. She noticed that Chat lagged behind her as she stepped forward.

“Wait!” he suddenly cried, catching her wrist in his hand. 

The sudden urgency in his voice made her jump. Ladybug whirled around to face him, ready to fight off whatever joke he thought needed saying before the battle and found Chat’s expression wound up in wide-eyed bewilderment. Her scolding rebuttal died in her throat and she let her wrist remain caught in Chat’s shaky grasp. 

“Chat Noir…?” She whispered, the silence suddenly heavy around them. 

Chat’s mouth worked silently for a moment before he finally managed to blurt out, “Don’t go in there!” Then he clamped his mouth shut, his lips pressing together in a thin line. 

“What’s going on?” She asked softly, stepping closer. 

Chat dropped his eyes, his brow furrowed. 

“You led us here, Chat,” Ladybug continued. “You know what’s in there.”

Chat Noir didn’t answer for a long, tense moment. His jaw trembled, and the hand that held her wrist was still shaking. But after a few minutes, he seemed to make a decision. 

He took her hand properly in his and looked down at it for a moment before finally shifting his gaze back up at Ladybug, his eyes hard. 

“It’s a trap,” he said at last. “And… I’m the bait.”

Ladybug took in a sharp breath and her free hand instinctively shot up to cover her earing. Chat Noir winced. But he held her gaze and didn’t let go of her hand. 

“I’m sorry…” Chat squeezed her hand. “But I can’t let you go in there. I’ll take care of the akuma, you just get out of here, get as far away as you can.”

“Chat, no, we’re partners, I won’t-” Ladybug tried to say, but Chat held a finger to her lips to cut her off. 

“You have to, you’ll lose your Miraculous otherwise,” Chat insisted. He finally dropped her hand and his eyes as he added, “Mine’s… already compromised…”

“Chat…!”

But Chat Noir was already walking past her toward the dark warehouse. He paused only to turn and pointedly tell her, “Stay. Out. Here. I can’t help you win this fight.”

And then he was off, disappearing into the warehouse and letting the door close behind him with a thunderous rumble. 

Ladybug could hardly wrap her head around what had just happened. Nor could she possibly let Chat Noir face whatever was in there without some backup. She was ready to completely disregard his words when she recalled the intensity with which he had spoken. This wasn’t just some worry in his gut, Chat was certain she would lose her Miraculous if she went with him. What was he facing all on his own in there? And what, exactly, had he just saved her from?

She wasn’t leaving without some answers. Ladybug hurled her yo-yo up to the roof of the warehouse and swung around the building until she found an open window she could slip into. From there she could watch from a catwalk that wrapped around the walls of the building. Safely out of sight, but close enough to help. She tiptoed to the corner of the building so she could conceal her presence behind a large metal pillar in case the lights came on and looked down at the center of the room. 

Below her stood the shadow boy, his arms limp at his sides and his head hanging. He looked like a lifeless puppet. Chat Noir was slowly making his way towards it, probably wary of whatever trap he claimed was there. But the boy never moved. Chat finally walked up to him and began searching his arms and hands for the object that was corrupted. 

“You dare come here alone!” A voice boomed from all around the room.

Ladybug nearly shrieked in surprise and ducked back behind her pillar, peeking her head out as little as possible to still keep her eye on Chat. 

Chat was glancing all around the room, his baton up in a defensive stance. 

“Wait! I can-!” He was trying to shout when, from the opposite end of the warehouse came a barrage of glowing butterflies, shooting out at breakneck speed to surround Chat in a cloud of glittering wings. 

“Plagg! Plagg, no!” Ladybug heard him cry. 

Ladybug’s yo-yo was in her hand. She already knew where she would throw it to get him out of there when she realized she could still make out Chat’s form. His arms were crossed up in front of his face, but the black of his suit was already dissipating. The magic leather that covered his skin was breaking apart in tiny pieces, slowly unraveling up his arms and legs and across his torso until there was not a speck of black left on him. 

The butterflies slowed and parted, flying up and away to reveal Adrien Agreste trembling at the center of the room, clutching his hand to his chest. 

Ladybug’s heart stopped. Adrien? Adrien was… Chat Noir? There was no way…

A man in a dark suit strode out into the moonlit room, his head high and his hands held behind his back. Adrien looked up and stood a little straighter, his hands balling into fists. 

“Father…” Adrien began, but the man met him with a hard smack to the face that sent Adrien sprawling to the ground. 

What!?

“Where is Ladybug?” The man asked in a harsh voice. 

“She’s not… coming,” Adrien muttered, still defiant despite his prone state on the floor. 

“You would betray your own father?” The man shouted, raising the cane he held in his hand and swinging it down against Adrien’s side. “Forsake your mother? And for what?” Another swing. “For a thief in the night? A phantom child who thinks nothing of you? You forget your place, boy!” One more swing. 

Ladybug watched in horror as this man, clad in a black mask and an army of glowing akuma around him, brutally punished Adrien who lay defenseless in an empty warehouse. Was this Hawkmoth? It could be no one else, for she certainly did not see Gabriel Agreste in this man full of rage. 

“You will take Ladybug’s Miraculous or you will deliver her to me, those are your choices,” he continued, finally clasping his hands behind his back once more, concealing the cane. “I can assist you in any way you see fit, but now your Kwami shall not.”

Adrien didn’t answer. Hawkmoth didn’t wait for one and instead walked around him toward the entrance to the warehouse. The shadow boy followed close behind and the metal doors of the warehouse clattered shut as they left. 

Ladybug’s heart thundered in her chest and in her head and she tried to simply remember how to breath. This was too much. Too much had happened in those scant few minutes, too much that Ladybug could scarcely believe even after seeing it with her own eyes. 

Adrien groaned and brought Ladybug back down to reality. Regardless of what she had seen, Adrien was hurt and alone. She needed to make sure his injuries weren’t too serious. 

Ladybug swung down from the catwalk and raced to Adrien’s side, kneeling down beside him and pulling him into her lap. She cradled his head in her arm and called softly to him. 

“Adrien? Adrien, can you hear me?”

“Lady?” Adrien answered with a wince. His cheek was already swelling where Hawkmoth had slapped him. “I thought I told you to…”

“Nonsense, we’re partners, of course I’m here,” Ladybug said, shushing him. “We have to get you to a hospital.”

“No!” Adrien cried, then winced. “No, I’m fine,” he continued through grit teeth. “I’m just… sore. If I get home I’ll be fine.”

Ladybug frowned, but she obliged him. Hospitals required answers and considering how Adrien had gotten to this state… Ladybug wasn’t unsympathetic. She helped him up onto his feet, but when he couldn’t support himself, she hoisted him up onto her back to carry him piggyback. 

“Just hang on tight,” she told him. “I don’t normally do this, so you have to warn me if you think you’re falling.”

Adrien wrapped his arms around her shoulders and dug his face into the crook of her neck. Ladybug felt her arms break out into gooseflesh as his breath heated her skin through the suit

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her neck.

“I… I trust you for a reason, Chat Noir.” 

“You shouldn’t…”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH WHOOPS forgot about this for a second, sorry. Don't know if there will be more if I'm honest, as much as I'd like there to be.

Adrien didn’t come to school the next day. It didn’t really phase anyone, but Marinette was the only one who knew why he wasn’t there. Still, she tried to remain upbeat. She didn’t want to give anyone cause to worry, she could tell Adrien had wanted to avoid that when she had dropped him off the night before. 

“You shouldn’t have stayed,” he had said once she had helped him slip in through the window into his room.

“Stop making me repeat myself,” she had told him sternly. 

Adrien had glowered, his brows knit and his lips pressed together. 

“Chat. Let me help,” she’d tried to insist. “We can get your kwami back, we can stop Hawkmoth-”

Adrien shook his head. “You know I can’t let you. This is my problem, so I’ll deal with it.”

“But Chat!”

“I’ll be fine. At the very least, we know my life won't be in danger,” he’d assured her with a wry smile. He’d held himself upright with the window, ready to close it on her. “So don’t… Don’t worry about me. I won’t risk almost turning you in again.” 

They hadn’t talked about her discovering his identity. She hadn’t had the heart to bring it up. And now, more than ever, she couldn’t risk letting slip anything about who she was. Adrien had managed to defy his father once, but he clearly didn’t trust himself to do it again. 

But, Marinette realized as she climbed the stairs up to her room during lunch, there was no way she could let her Chat Noir face this problem alone. Now that she knew what they were up against it was more important than ever that she support him. 

She flopped face first onto her chaise lounge and groaned into the cushion. 

Tikki popped open her purse and flew up to perch on the seat beside her head. 

“I know you’d like to be reckless, but I have to remind you that the danger this time is very real,” she told Marinette.

“I know, I know!” Marinette whined, her voice muffled by the chaise. “And I’m trying to think of something I can do that doesn’t put me in immediate danger but you know I can’t just leave this alone!”

Despite the dilemma, Tikki laughed.

“I know that too,” she assured her. 

Marinette turned her head to look at Tikki. 

“What if I just… had you stay home? You can’t get stolen if you’re not around, right?”

Tikki fluttered up in a huff. “I can’t possibly leave your side, now more than ever! You never know when you’ll need the power of Ladybug.”

Marinette sighed and rolled over onto her back. “It’s either risk everything or don’t help, huh…” she muttered. 

Tikki let the idea hang in the air for only a moment before she spoke. 

“Is that not the risk you face every battle?”

Marinette shot upright. 

“But remember, it is more dangerous this time!” Tikki continued quickly. “We can’t count on Chat Noir’s help right now.”

Marinette took in a deep, steadying breath. 

“And that’s precisely why we have to do something,” she said. 

She jumped off the lounge and raced down the stairs to the bakery. The idea she had come up with was only half way thought out but, like any good lucky charm, the right course would reveal itself when the time was right. 

-

Marinette’s hand was shaking as her finger hovered over the doorbell of Adrien’s house. It was a sadly familiar scene. But, she reminded herself as she took three deep breaths in a row to calm her nerves, her relationship with Adrien had improved in strides since she had come to deliver a handmade birthday present. 

Still, she couldn’t help but hesitate. This was more than just dropping in on her crush at his home; This was walking into the enemy stronghold at the risk of revealing herself to a partner who could betray her at any time. 

She tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. 

Tikki eventually popped out of her purse. 

“Chat Noir doesn’t know your secret, Marinette. You have nothing to fear as long as you come to him as you are,” she reminded her. 

“I guess I’m more worried about watching what I say,” Marinette admitted. “I’m not always the best at that around Adrien…”

Despite her words, she pressed firmly on the doorbell and looked up at the camera in the wall. She heard it hum to life and focus on her face. 

“Uh, h-hello. I’m here to see Adrien, he missed class so I brought over his homework,” she said in a rush while her courage still held. 

A panel opened in the wall beside her and the assistant’s curt voice answered her over the intercom. 

“Thank you, please drop it in the box.”

“Ah, wait!” Marinette called. Did this count as talking back? But she couldn’t afford to leave without speaking to Adrien. “Can I please talk to Adrien? My parents were worried about him too so they put together a care package. I don’t think it would survive the mailbox... “

There was a long pause. Extremely long. Marinette started to wilt, she had already screwed this up apparently. But the intercom came back on and the assistant finally answered.

“Very well.”

The gate buzzed. Marinette took in a sharp breath in surprise, then tried to steel herself as she opened it and made her way through the pavilion to the front door. 

Adrien was there, holding the door open to greet her. The assistant stood behind, eyeing him carefully. (What was her name again? Nancy, Nattie… Nathalie?)

“Marinette,” Adrien called, “You didn’t have to come all this way, it’s not the first time I’ve been absent.”

“Well, you know, after yesterday with how down you were and then that explosion…” She trailed off as she got close.

Time had not been kind to the bruise on Adrien’s cheek. The swelling had gone down, but now a dark splotch of purple covered part of his face from his cheekbone to halfway to his nose. The bruise bled into the corner of his eye, making him look haggard and dark on one side. 

“Oh my gosh, is that a black eye?” She exclaimed, unable to contain herself with how much worse he looked. 

Adrien grimaced and turned away, pulling down the bangs of his hair in an attempt to cover that side of his face. 

“It’s.. It’s nothing. Fencing accident. It happens,” he said quickly. 

No it doesn’t, Marinette wanted to scream, not like this! You got hit in the face by a man you called ‘father’! But she wasn’t supposed to know that had happened. And Adrien had stayed home from school precisely because he didn’t want people to worry about that. 

Marinette took a deep breath and made herself change the subject. She held up the box of pastries she had begged her parents for and held it out to Adrien. 

“A-anyway, I thought you could use a pick-me-up, so I brought some snacks.”

Adrien took the box and lifted the lid with wide eyes. After a moment he smiled and looked back up at Marinette. 

“There’s enough for everyone.”

“I wasn’t sure what you would like…” Marinette admitted. 

He turned to Natalie and handed the pastries over to her. 

“You and the Gorilla should take first pick. Then have two sent to my room with an order of coffee please,” he said before turning back to Marinette. “Would you… like to come in? There’s one extra.”

Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t actually expected things to go this well. She certainly hadn’t expected to be invited to his room! Marinette tried to ignore the blush she felt creeping over her cheeks as she pulled herself back down to the present. 

“I’d love to! If that’s okay with…”

She glanced at Nathalie. The woman looked vaguely displeased, but she also kept glancing down at the box of pastries in her hands and said nothing. 

“Of course,” Adrien answered for her. “Come in.”

Adrien held open the door for her and Marinette stepped gingerly inside. 

It wasn’ the first time she’d been inside Adrien’s house, but it was the first time she’d had the luxury to fully take in her surroundings. She walked slowly into the entrance hall, her eyes darting up and all around to take in the tall, polished black pillars, the light fixtures, even the white and gold accents adorning every wall. Their footsteps echoed all around her and Marinette couldn’t decide between remaining silent within the seemingly hallowed halls or giving a shout to play with the sound. 

“Your house is beautiful, Adrien,” she said, her voice bright with awe. “It’s like a castle!”

“Yeah, it’s cold and empty like one too…” he muttered.

They both stopped suddenly. Marinette glanced at Adrien and found his mouth clamped shut and his face flushed. He had turned away from her and now it was a heavy silence that echoed through the room. 

“Uh, sorry,” he finally said. “I’m glad you like it.”

“No, I… I never thought of that,” Marinette said. She turned back to look up at the chandelier at the center of the room. It was beautiful, but… perhaps that’s all it was.

“I know everyone always dreams of living in a house like this, but from your angle I’m sure the view is very different.”

Marinette felt the tension pass and Adrien finally stepped ahead of her to lead the way.

“It’s funny,” he said as they walked, “I actually dream about a house like yours, Marinette.”

Marinette almost tripped over her feet as much as she tripped over her words. 

“Wh-Mine?” She squeaked. “That tiny thing with the old water heater and the kitchen with no counter space? And there’s zero privacy, you’d be better off dreaming of someplace else,” she assured him with a laugh. 

“It’s warm and vibrant, always full of life and love even when no one is home…” Adrien said, accompanied by a wistful sigh. “And I bet you’re never lonely.”

Marinette didn’t miss the twinge of envy in Adrien’s voice. She looked around the polished walls and took stock of the hollow sound of their footsteps. Then she compared it to sitting on the couch with her parents and always brushing shoulders, and being able to hear her father’s laughter from clear across the building. Finally, she imagined Adrien squeezing in with them at their tiny kitchen counter for lunch and nearly laughed to herself at the sight. 

“… You know, you’re always welcome,” she finally said. “My parents love a boy they can feed.”

She was expecting a laugh of some sort. A kind of ‘hah hah, I’m so sure’ comment that brushed aside the idea as just something said to be polite. What she got was a pause in Adrien’s steps and a glimpse of a shocked expression, wide eyes and mouth agape, that morphed downward into something else with furrowed brows and a slightly crooked frown. 

Marinette didn’t consider herself that great at reading expressions, but in this case the want was clear on his face. 

“In fact, you should come over,” she said in a rush, eager to tap in on Adrien’s rare show of emotion. “Like, this weekend sometime. Or even for lunch on Monday! If you need an excuse you can say it’d be rude not to thank my parents in person for the snacks.”

Then, as quickly as it had fallen, Adrien’s mask was back in place. He chuckled softly and smiled kindly at her. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said. Not really an answer. 

Marinette let him dodge. It wouldn’t do for her to overstep her welcome so soon. 

Adrien let Marinette into his room, another familiar scene she shouldn’t recognize. She looked around and tried to sound impressed anyway. 

“Now this is a nice set up,” she said with a giggle. Then she turned to him, pointing at the rock climbing handholds that spanned up his wall and over his bed. “Do you really use those?” 

“On occasion,” he answered. There was an odd twist to his smile, like someone laughing at a personal joke. 

“I’ve never tried, but I’m sure my noodle arms wouldn’t get me very far,” she said as she slowly meandered to the white couch at the center of the room. 

“It’s your noodle legs you have to worry about,” Adrien replied. He was fiddling with something at his desk, and Marinette kept her eyes forward so she didn’t spy the picture of his mother on the desktop and let something slip. 

“Yup, not very far,” she said. 

She sat at the edge of the couch cushion with her back straight and her hands folded together in her lap. Adrien’s room wasn’t ornate like the shining marbled walls of the rest of the house, but now she was alone with Adrien in his own room and she was reeling from the implications. She made herself focus on maintaining her posture and continuously reminding herself that Adrien was her friend and they were hanging out as friends. 

Adrien finally joined her on the couch, a full square cushion of space between them, and sat back easily. Marinette began to feel silly sitting so straight. She let her back slouch a bit into an easier posture. 

“I hope you got at least a little time to yourself today, nursing a bruise like that,” she said. 

“Well, I didn’t get out of Chinese, piano, or a throwback to homeschooling with Nathalie, but… I do get to skip out on photo shoots and fencing class for a bit,” Adrien admitted with a sheepish smile. 

“What luxury!”

Adrien laughed. “I guess the world is my oyster, as they say.”

“What are you going to do with all that free time?”

“... Honestly, I’m not sure,” he answered, dropping his eyes. 

The jovial tone of the conversation faltered. Here was the opening Marinette was waiting for. If she could carefully steer the conversation, she might actually get Adrien to open up to her about what was going on with his father. 

“There must be something you’d like to try given this chance?” She prodded. She turned her knees towards him and leaned in a little closer to assure him he had her attention. 

“I guess it’s… Well, I guess it’s a little complicated,” he finally said. His eyes were still down, focused on nothing as he considered the idea. “My dad has some pretty strict ideas about what activities are acceptable. So even if there were something, I’m not sure I could get away with it.”

“So none of this stuff you’re spending all your time on was your choice?” Marinette asked. “Your dad decided everything?”

“It’s not like I dislike the things I am doing,” Adrien insisted, “I really do enjoy fencing and piano, and it was great getting to talk to your uncle in Chinese.”

“But you didn’t chose any of those things yourself…” she prodded. 

“No. Public school is the only thing I… I did for myself and got away with,” he said. His voice was small, almost ashamed. Did he not even forgive himself this one small freedom?

Marinette looked down at her own hands in her lap. There was more to Adrien’s relationship with his father than she had even realized. Even without the newfound knowledge of their identities as Hawkmoth and Chat Noir, it seemed Adrien had already been walking the tightrope with his father long before she ever knew him. This wasn’t something her bullheaded optimistic approach could resolve overnight. But it also did not deter her for even a moment.

“I… Imagine you’ve had this talk with him already, too?” She asked quietly after a moment.

Adrien hummed in acknowledgement. 

“Several times. Standing up against my father is… It’s just not something I usually do. I mean, he’s my dad. I have to believe he knows what’s best. For me and our family…”

Their family… Marinette thought back to the fondness Adrien had when talking about his mother, about the gorgeous portrait of her hanging in Mr. Agreste’s study… And the fact that she wasn’t around anymore. The glimmer of a hint was staring her in the face, she just knew it. Now if only she could put all the pieces together. 

“Well… Well, I can see your point, but I still think this is too much,” Marinette finally said. Her hands balled into fists and the corners of her mouth tugged down in frustration. “You are your own person with your own life. You should be able to speak your mind about your feelings without thinking that it’s pointless. Like… Like how Ladybug stands up for Paris! Under that mask, she’s an ordinary girl with a family just like us. I’m sure her parents would be mortified if they knew what she was up to, but she has to fight because she knows it’s right. She has to be able to stand up against all odds and win the day! So if… if there’s ever something you really believe in you should stand up and fight, just like Ladybug!”

Marinette finally managed to clamp her mouth shut. What the heck kind of analogy was that, and why did she have to get all riled up about it? Ugh, she wanted to bury her face in a pastry out of shame, why hadn’t those arrived yet?

But Adrien didn’t laugh at her. He didn’t even scoff. His eyes were wide as he looked up at her, as if seeing her for the first time. 

“… Me?” He whispered, “Like Ladybug…?”

But of course. Chat loved Ladybug. Adrien openly admired her, adored her even. He had been willing to go against the man he respected above all else just for the sake of her safety.

It had been the perfect analogy for him. 

Marinette reached out across the couch and placed her hand over Adrien’s.

“And… And if you need support in any way, I’d be honored to be your Chat Noir. To have your back and fight by your side.”

Adrien stared at their hands, but he didn’t pull away. Marinette worried that perhaps she had laid it on a little thick; Adrien was apparently shocked speechless. 

A sharp knock at the door made both of them jump and they pulled their hands away from each other in a rush. 

“Oh, the snacks!” Adrien said as he lept off the couch and raced to the door. 

The moment was over and the spell broken. Marinette didn’t think she would be able to coax more out of Adrien, but she thought maybe she had done enough for now. If Adrien at least took her offer of support to heart then perhaps that was all she could ask for. 

The coffee was laid out and they spent the rest of the afternoon joking and talking about sweets and the bakery they came from. Adrien had revealed so much to her, Marinette figured she owed it to him to open up a little herself. 

Nathalie came too soon to pull Adrien away for his next lesson. He insisted on walking Marinette to the door himself and, thankfully, Nathalie left him to it. 

They lingered in the entrance hall together, both of them hesitating before speaking or reaching for the front door. 

“... Sorry to chase you out like this,” Adrien finally said. 

“No, no, no,” Marinette insisted, raising her hands to wave away the thought. “You’re busy enough and I came over unannounced! I’m glad I got to see you at all.”

Adrien glanced away, a small smile breaking out on his lips. 

“I’m glad you came,” he admitted in a small voice, like he didn’t actually want her to hear. Then he raised his eyes to look at her again and added, “It might be a couple days before I can come back to school, so let the others know not to worry about me.”

“Sure thing,” she agreed with a nod. “I’ll even let Nino know you miss him.”

“Please do!”

They hesitated a moment longer, but eventually Adrien turned away and opened the door. 

“I guess I’ll see you in a few days,” Marinette said as she turned to leave. 

“I wasn’t aware we had a guest,” a deep voice suddenly echoed from across the room. 

Adrien and Marinette both turned quickly in surprise to find Gabriel Agreste coming down the stairs towards them. Adrien’s smile fell instantly.

“Oh! Mister Agreste! I just wanted to check on Adrien since he missed school today,” Marinette said quickly. Her danger senses were on high alert. This is Hawkmoth, this is Hawkmoth! Rang in her head like a fire alarm. 

“We appreciate your concern,” he said as he approached them. “I’m glad my Adrien has such compassionate and dependable people in his life, miss…?”

“Marinette.”

“Miss Marinette. A designer if I remember correctly?”

Oh god. Marinette should have been ecstatic to be remembered by someone like Gabriel Agreste, but in this case it was the last thing she wanted. 

“Y-yes, sir,” she said regardless. What else could she do?

“Forgive me but… Your earrings. They’re quite plain compared to the rest of your ensemble, are they not?” He asked, motioning to her ears with his hand. 

Marinette clasped her hands together and squeezed to keep from reaching up and trying to conceal her Miraculous. 

“They… They were a gift,” she answered, the first idea that came to her. “From my mother. Kind of like hand-me-downs, she gave them to me when I got her new ones,” 

“Ah, then their value is more sentimental than fashion,” he said. If he was disappointed, he didn’t show it on his face. “In that case, they suit you.”

“T-thank you.”

“Rest assured that Adrien will return to school in due time,” he continued without missing a beat. 

Perhaps the danger had past. Marinette made herself relax and stepped through the doorway.

“Thanks again for the snacks, Marinette,” Adrien said.

“Any time!”

She waved as the door closed, then turned to leave. 

Her pace grew quicker with every step. 

“He pointed out the earrings on purpose,” she whispered when she was finally past the gates and around the corner. “He’s looking for me.”

Tikki popped open the purse, but stayed below the metal clasp to keep from being seen. 

“You said nothing to give yourself away, Marinette, he can’t confirm anything,” she said from the pouch. 

“I hope you’re right,” Marinette muttered. “But I can’t go back there any time soon.”

-

Adrien regretted having to close the door on Marinette. She had been so kind and open with him lately. He was glad to finally be able to talk to her, he just wished his circumstances were a little less… trying. 

His father was still standing behind him when Adrien turned away from the door, nearly making his jump. Why was he still here? What did he want now? Adrien eyed him warily. 

“I presume you know where the girl lives,” his father said, still watching the door. 

“... Yeah,” Adrien admitted. 

His father actually smiled. It was a strange and sinister thing. Then he finally turned and headed for the stairs.

“Good. We will be imposing on her soon.”

“What? But why?” Adrien called after him.

“Why else?”

Adrien felt his heart lurch. 

“... Marinette…?”


End file.
